Only Iroha, Ozu, Sumire, and I are annoying towards Mashiro

“Congratulations on the update with
the new character and the new scenario!!! Does everyone have their
drinks ready?!”

“Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeers!!!”

The sound of glasses clinking together
could be heard.

It was Friday evening. There were four
people, myself included, having a party in my apartment room. On the
six-person desk that I had bought especially for guests was delivery
pizza, homemade roast beef, special japanese sake, 20-year-old
whisky, and oolong tea bottles. You could call this heaven on earth.
Inside the refrigerator was even a cake made at a french patisserie
that Sumire-sensei had gotten as a present from a friend.

This week’s theme was… a party for
having survived another week. Kageishi Sumire let out a satisfied
sigh as she took a sip from the first glass of whisky mixed with some
cola.

“Puwaaaaa~~~ The first sip after
having survived another deadline really is the best.”

“You really made me anxious, for
crying out loud.”

I turned towards Sumire, who had just
barely finished the illustrations I had asked her for after working
on them all night. The bags that were under her eyes were evidence of
her all-nighter.

By the way, I’m using polite language
now. I know that I may have seemed cold-hearted earlier when I
cornered her in the student guidance office, but she’s still older
than me, so I try to keep my speech towards her polite when I can. Of
course, I’m certainly not going to hold back if she gives me a
reason not to.

“Sumire-chan-sensei, you reek of
alcohol! How much did you even drink before this~?”

“Ehh, I don’t remember~!
Iroha-chan, do you remember how many bottles you’ve drunk so far in
your life?”

“Ahahaha! It would be bad if I
could~! Unlike you, I’m still a minor, a mi-no-r~!”

“Heeey! I’m still in my twenties!!!
Don’t treat me like an old lady!”

“I know, I know… Oh, your glass is
empty. What would you like next?”

“Vodka!”

Iroha skillfully filled up the empty
glass that Sumire held up. Like that, Iroha continued her
perfect-Kouhai act.

“Mhm… this roast beef really is
delicious. Aki was the one who made it, right?”

“Yeah, I read online how to cook it
in a rice cooker. Though it was the first time I’d tried it, it was
pretty easy.”

“You really are crazy when it comes
to housework. This might be even better roast beef than what most
stores sell, don’t you think?”

“You’re just unable to discern good
from bad. You’re being pretty rude towards real chefs.”

While watching Iroha and Sumire,
schoolgirl and 25-year old, talking about alcohol and whatnot, Ozu
and I were eating some rice. Even though it was some cheap meat from
a nearby supermarket, Ozu seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it. He
really knows how to flatter people.

“Forget it. If I spent years with an
annoying girl like her, my lifespan would shorten.”

“What a shame. If she got together
with such a multi-talented guy like you, her big brother could
relax.”

“Though I feel like I’ve said this
before, I don’t wanna be told that by Ozu. If it were any other
programmer, we wouldn’t have made it in time at all.”

“The illustrations really cut it
close, after all. I had to directly extract the data from Sensei’s
computer right after she finished colouring. She really pushes right
up against the deadlines every single time.”

“Just what kind of program did you
use to achieve that…?”

“I just thought that something like
this would be useful, so I implemented it a while ago.”

“You make it sound so easy…”

I could only sigh, once more realizing
that this guy here was a genius through and through. He can read and
write binary as easily as a native Japanese speaker can read
Japanese. Ever since he was born, he had been gifted in anything that
involved calculations. For example, in grade school, he always
received overwhelmingly high scores in math competitions.

“But my skills are only at this
level.”

“You’re as humble as always. Even
though the amount of people who could measure up to your skill are
scarce in number.”

“Maybe. But not having any other
experiences in life makes me nothing more than a ‘Sicko’.”

“…………”

“It’s exactly because Aki looked
out for me before that I can have fun with everyone else here and
enjoy this delicious ginger ale. From my point of view, Aki is even
more special.”

“I don’t like talking about the
past.”

“Aki is just as shy as always,” Ozu
let out a giggle as he took a sip from his glass.

I didn’t want to think about Ozu’s
past, and I wasn’t planning on digging it up either. His
circumstances were simply that he was a genius, unable to fit into
the small vessel of society called school, and I reached out a
helping hand. That’s all there was to it.

“That reminds me. What about
Makigai-sensei?”

“He couldn’t participate this week.
The deadline for his new novel is close, I heard,” I took out my
smartphone and showed him the chat with the person called ‘Makigai
Namako’.

Along with me, the director, the
programmer Ozu, the illustrator Sumire, he was also an important,
not-to-be-forgotten member of the “Fifth Floor Alliance.” Because
of this foreign supporter, even a no-name group like us had received
an amazing amount of popularity. Well, rather than foreign, he was
still a genuine Japanese person, but it felt like he was a foreigner.

Makigai Namako.

After winning the grand prize at a
newcomer writer’s competition at UZA Publishing three years ago,
his series became a great hit and had over three million sales. This
had earned him the reputation of a super-popular up-and-coming light
novel writer.

His writing style was filled with
sarcasm and satire, and he always looked at things with a combination
of rational thinking and societal insight. The books took a thrilling
new approach to literary style and the value of the protagonist’s
point of view. Not to mention that they became such a big hit that
they received media mix offers, and anime and manga were rumored to
be coming soon, but he continues to deny that—

He’s a literary master within today’s
literary masters, and his identity is still unknown. Even I became a
fan after reading his characters and writing style. Since I didn’t
have anything to lose, I had sent him a message in the form of a fan
letter via his editorial department, asking for a scenario and his
contact information. To my surprise, he actually showed interest.

Even now, he’s still a valuable
member of the “Fifth Floor Alliance.” Though I’ve never met him
in person, his voice over the phone sounds like a friendly,
open-hearted Onii-san.

“Weird. It’s rare for
Makigai-sensei to not be able to participate because of his
deadline.”

“Ahhh, you’re right about that. You
can always hear him typing on his keyboard when he’s talking over
voice chat.”

“Maybe he has some other things to
take care of. Like his girlfriend visiting him.”

“He’s the type of person who’d
join the voice call even with his girlfriend around… Well, I’m
sure that he has a lot on his plate, since he’s a functioning
member of society and all.”

“Ahhhh, the whole world is turning~
Akiteru-sama looks like a little shota to me now~”

“Don’t just describe your
hallucinations to me! And don’t drag me into this!”

“Ahhh, I can’t hold myself back
from pushing you down any longer! It’s so exciting! Tsundere shotas
are the best!” said Sumire, acting like a cat with a red face.

Question: Why am I not in the slightest
bit happy that a beautiful teacher like her is coming at me with
water dripping from her mouth?

Answer: It’s because the smell of
alcohol is stronger than those of her pheromones.

There might be cases of men doing
horrible things to drunk women, but stories of such instances only
completely confused me. Who in their right mind would want to involve
themselves with a woman like her in this situation? I might feel a
little drawn in by her soft skin or her voluptuous breasts, but
anything beyond that and I’m out. And not to mention, this woman—

“Mmmm, shotas are nice and all, but
something’s lacking~ Ahh, over there! There’s another shota.”

“Eh, me?”

Ozu suddenly raised his voice when
Sumire pointed at him. That reaction to being called a shota was
totally understandable for a boy with his tall stature.

“Yes! You look like a kind,
prince-like shota! Come here, come here~”

“I don’t know what you’re trying
to tell me with that though…”

“Hey Ozu, you idiot! Don’t come
over here! You’ll get tangled up—”

—in this mess!!! is what I
wanted to say.

Sumire-sensei grabbed Ozu’s arm with
one hand, grabbed my head with the other, and stuffed my head into
his chest.

“Yeah, that’s it! The normally
devilish Akiteru-sama shota is being spoiled by the prince-like
Ozuma-kun shota!”

After pushing us together with raw
strength, Sumire-sensei took out her phone and started taking photos.

“Ohhhh, Ozu X Aki!!!
Sumire-chan-sensei, are you a genius?”

“Iroha-chan also gets it?! The value
of this scene!! Ahhh I can’t get enough!! Get me some more
alcohol!!!”

The two of them actually had the nerve
to get excited over this.

—Yes, this is just how much of a pain
a drunk Sumire is. She starts to see others as shotas, always pairs
up me and Ozu, and fantasizes about who-knows-what. You could say
that she loses all her reason and loses herself to her lustful
desires.

“Sorry, Ozu. They’re being idiots
like usual.”

After getting into a position to do so,
I separated from Ozu.

“N-No. I’m totally okay.”

“You really are a saint, Ozu. You’re
not even getting mad at them for this.”

His face looked a bit red to me, but
that might’ve been just been the lighting.

“Ahhh! Why did you separate so
soon!!! I wanted to watch some more shota BL!!!”

“Will you finally return from the
world of hallucinations already?”

“Gufu.”

One quick hit on her neck and she
collapsed like all the energy in her body had been cut. Shortly
afterword, she lifted up her head, looking at her surroundings.

“What in the world… Was I doing?”

“You were sexually harassing your
students.”

“Eh? No no no that’s impossible!
I’m the type of person who knows when to draw the line.”

“Your brain really works very
conveniently for you, doesn’t it?”

Realizing that we wouldn’t get
anywhere like this, I cleared my throat to get everyone’s
attention.

“Ahhh, everyone. I have something I
want to talk about. And it’s something rather serious.”

When I finished my words, the noise in
the room disappeared like a candle that had been blown out. Ozu,
Sumire, and even Iroha all went quiet. It’s exactly because of this
sort of thing that we can work together as the “Fifth Floor
Alliance.” This is our way of doing things. After looking everyone
in the eyes, I continued.

“It’s about our new neighbour,
Tsukinomori Mashiro—”

I told everyone about what had happened
over the past few days. About the deal with President Tsukinomori,
about Mashiro and me becoming fake lovers, and how she showed no
signs of actually wanting to act like a girlfriend. Most importantly,
I told them all that she had moved into room 501.

Changing her school, moving in right
next to me, trying to reset her life, and everything else that I
speculated about. But it was clear to see that she still wasn’t
having fun with her current school life. And so—

Leaving her alone was definitely not an
option.

“I want to make Mashiro a comrade. It
might just be unnecessary meddling, and she might not be happy about
it at all, but even so, Oji-san entrusted Mashiro to me… Will you
help me?”

“………”

Everyone kept quiet, lost in their
thoughts.

“Ahaha~”

The first person to break the silence
was the girl known for not being able to read the atmosphere.

“He tries to live for money and
efficiency, but Senpai still wants to meddle even though he doesn’t
gain anything from it. It’s the best~!”

“Yeah, that’s just like Aki. It’s
constant changes between showing kindness and being severe. It’s
like he’s an A.I. in the truest sense, trying to act like a human
being.”

“I have to agree. Mashiro-chan needs
a place to belong to. And that’s probably what she wants for
herself the most.”

Ozu and Sumire followed up after
Iroha’s words.

“So what exactly do you plan on
doing, Senpai?”

“I want to throw a welcome party.”

“Something kind of like our party
today?”

“Yeah. Invite her to our bad
drinking party, and dye her in our colours.”

“Hmmmm, but do you really think that
she’ll agree just like that?”

“I have a plan. And in order to pull
it off, I need everyone’s help.”

“A plan! That sounds fun! Okay, I’m
totally in~!”

“Alright, this is what I thought of—”

I lowered my voice and started
explaining my plan.

I knew that it was absurd and
completely unreasonable, and that the chance of success was pretty
slim. But for us, it certainly wasn’t impossible. Not a single one
of them thought that it was undoable. Instead, they totally agreed
with everything.

“Hehe~ That’s the best. It’s
super duper interesting~”

“Though it feels like a lot is
resting on my shoulders. Well, I’ll try to do my best.”

After we pressed the doorbell countless
times, our goddess Amaterasu finally opened the Gate of the Celestial
Rock cave, greeting us with a sleepy face and pyjamas. In response,
we blatantly asked:

“Will you come to our drinking party
on friday?”

“…Go home!!!”

(TLC: To keep it short, this is a
reference to the starting days of Japanese mythology, the Sun Goddess
Amaterasu hid from the other gods in a cave, closed off by a rock.
Said other gods tried to lure her out with a party)

[5 Days prior (Sunday)]

“…Huh? No matter how often I try to
ring the bell, it won’t work… Don’t tell me; did she cut the
power to it?”

She actually had the nerve to learn
from yesterday. Now that it had come to this, there was no chance of
attacking her on a Sunday like this. Sadly, we had to withdraw for
the day.

…As if.

For just such an occasion, we had
prepared around 30 posters for our party, and we stuffed them all
into her mail slot.

[4 Days prior (Monday)]

‘I have something I want to talk
about.’

During class, I wrote that on a small
piece of paper ripped out of my notebook, rolled it into a ball, and
threw it over to Mashiro’s desk. After reading it over, Mashiro
gazed at me with a huffy expression, only to wordlessly focus her
gaze once more on the blackboard. However, after I returned my focus
to class, I realized that she was writing something on said piece of
paper. She threw it back to me.

‘What was that about yesterday? Was
it bullying? Harassment?’

‘As you can see, it was an invite for
our drinking party’.

‘Treating another person’s mail bin
as a trash cran, filling it up to the brim… Whatever, Mashiro hates
you.’

‘Then tell me your LINE ID. It’ll
be more convenient than doing this.’

‘Never. Die.’

She flat-out declined. It indeed was no
easy task to get past the impregnable wall of the Ice Queen.

—Well, we still have a lot of time,
so it’s fine.

[3 Days Prior (Tuesday)]

“Hey, how about you come to—”

“Don’t talk to Mashiro inside the
classroom.”

[2 Days Prior (Wednesday)]

“Hey, how about you come to—”

“Don’t talk to Mashiro on the way
to school. Are you a stalker or something?”

[1 Day Prior (Thursday)]

“Hey, how about you come to… wait,
it’s already tomorrow—”

“………”

“We want to throw a welcoming party
for you. We’ll order pizza and some other stuff, Sensei will drink
alcohol and the others will have juice. Since we’re living in the
same apartment complex on the same floor, we might as well make the
most out of it, right?”

“Listen here…”

Ohhh! Has she finally opened up her
shell?!

“Even if you ask Mashiro so
seriously, this place is…”

I guess that the girls’ toilet is
impossible after all. I really thought that I might get a positive
response out of her if I caught her in a moment of relaxation and
weakness. Sadly, a lot of people have gathered in the meantime.
They’re all looking at the suspicious person stopping a girl on the
way on the toilet. At this rate, it’ll only be a matter of time
before I have to run away from teachers and police.

Overstaying my welcome is not
recommended at this point. In complete silence, I turned around on my
heels and walked away.

In the end—

No matter how much we tried to invite
her by whatever means and techniques possible, she didn’t move an
inch, blocking every attempt.

*

It was the evening before the day of
the welcoming party. After classes, I went to a nearby supermarket.
While I pushed the cart in front of me, different types of
ingredients started piling up on their own. The person responsible
for that was Iroha, who was walking around the store, bringing back
whatever she wanted like a honeybee delivering honey.

Carrots, onions, potatoes, beef,
various other side dishes, 500ml bottles of water, tea, and whatnot.
As well as all that, various sweets were clearly being chosen
according to her liking.

Though she was still wearing her school
uniform, her headphones weren’t present around her neck and she had
her hair hanging down in a natural look. Though it didn’t exactly
hide the stylish feeling she gave off, she still looked way more like
an honor student than she usually did.

…Honestly, it gives me the chills.

“Do you really have to go into
honor-student-mode when we’re just going shopping?”

“When I use this mode, I can get
discounts, or even get stuff for free. And Senpai likes it more this
way, right?”

“You’re not wrong, but still…”

Though my pride wouldn’t normally
allow me to use my comrades for profit, I certainly wouldn’t say
anything against saving some money where I could, especially for the
expensive welcoming party. However, there was a certain reason I
wanted to avoid bringing the honor student Iroha here.

After all—

“Oh my oh my oh my, it’s the usual
student couple!”

“Hello, Onee-san from the sample
aisle.”

“Oh my, Iroha-chan. How nice of you
to call this old lady an Onee-san! Aki-kun, you really have yourself
a good girlfriend.”

“I keep telling you. We really don’t
have that kind of relationship…”

“Now now, there’s no need to get
flustered,” said the old lady, not trusting my words at all like
usual as she patted me on the shoulder.

—Yeah, this is a total pain.

It might be obvious since we’re
neighbours, but Iroha and I often meet up here when going shopping
for dinner and whatnot. At first, we just happened to meet by pure
coincidence, and just went shopping together on a whim, but after a
while, it became a routine for us to go together like this. Because
of that, we’ve become known as the ‘Couple that often goes
shopping together’ by this old lady, whose stance on the subject
still hadn’t change after all this time. And it’s not even that—

“Oh, you have some wieners from
overseas today?”

“Yes, that’s right~ They’re the
thick, tenacious ones from Germany. If you want, you can have a bite.
It’s a service for Iroha-chan~”

“Ahhh… Nnn… Ah, it’s delicious.
Such a rich flavour…” Iroha stuffed a small piece of weiner into
her mouth.

Seeming to have thought of something,
she turned around to look at me. The corners of her mouth lifted up,
turning into a mischievous grin.

“Do you want some too, Senpai? …Here,
open wide~”

“Stop it, idiot.”

“Muuu, you don’t have to act so
embarrassed.”

When I pushed her arm away, Iroha’s
expression morphed into that of a married woman, as if to say “Fufu,
such a helpless person” with a bright smile. I wish for nothing
more than to smack her when she’s this annoying, but this is
exactly what’s so frustrating about it…

“That’s right! Calling her ‘Idiot’
is way too cruel, Aki-kun!! You’ve got such a wonderful girlfriend,
so you have to be more kind to her!!!”

—See what I mean?

This is how it always goes if I react
calmly in response to Iroha’s teasing. I really have no idea how in
the world we could look like a couple, but the people around us seem
to think differently. But, the fact that it’s apparently already a
fact written in stone for them is exactly what makes it so annoying.
When I firmly deny it, they just laugh at me, saying “You don’t
have to be so embarrassed!” Now that it’s come to this, there’s
no escape from it anymore. I wanted to avoid this scenario at all
costs, so I tried to invite Ozu to go shopping with us, but…

“I’ll hold off on that. Nobody
wants to be the third wheel, after all.”

He flat-out refused me with those
words. It seems like he’s really under the wrong impression about
the relationship between me and Iroha… what a hideous
misunderstanding.

…And while I continued to think, the
wiener was still floating right before my eyes. The smell of smoked
food wafted through the air, and the hot steam floated up from it.
Iroha continued to gaze straight into my eyes.

“Are you not going to eat it,
Senpai?”

“…I won’t. Come on, let’s go.”

“………Is…… That so………”
Iroha muttered.

When Iroha pulled back her arm holding
the weiner, the old lady’s gaze grew about 30 times colder.

Glareeeeeeeeeeeeeee

“Ugh…”

“…………Stare.”

“I-I just have to eat it, okay.”

Unable to withstand the pressure, I
signaled her to bring it to me as I stretched out my hand. Holding
the wiener in her hand, Iroha just shook her head.

“It’s fine. I’m sorry for trying
to force you.”

“I-I don’t mind.”

“…Really…? Then, how about you
beg for it from the bottom of your heart?”

—This woman!!!! She has the nerve to
respond like that?!

Not to mention that she said the last
part in a low voice so that the old lady couldn’t hear. There’s
no mistake that she’s laughing her head off on the inside, while
keeping this sad expression on the outside. Doing as I was told would
practically give me an ulcer, but I can’t just lecture her in front
of all these people around us.

“M-Man, I really want to eat it now.
I want to eat it, from the bottom of my heart.”

“Did you run the math on that yet?”

“According to my calculations, I want
to eat the wiener with a feeling of 98% certainty, of which 84% is
because I want to be fed by Iroha. Basically— I really want to eat
it.”

“Pfft… Hehehehe…!”

When I presented the results of my
mathematics, I answered in a cute way, in response to which Iroha’s
face turned into a grin, and she was barely able to keep herself from
laughing until she had turned her back towards me. But I could
clearly see her shoulders shaking from her snickering. She even has
the nerve to laugh at me. This damned woman… You’d better
remember this.

“Y-You pass. To think that you would
go this far. Pfftt…”

“Hey, old lady, how about you finally
realize what really is happening here and help me out?”

“Come on in, come on in! Today’s
special is wieners straight from Germany!!!”

“She’s returned to her job?!”

Even though she was actively
participating in our conversation just now! Damn it, why does the
world always work in Iroha’s favour?

Grumbling about the gods in the heavens
above and their obvious favouritism, I swallowed the weiner.

“Nnn… Mmm…”

“Is it delicious, Senpai?”

“…It’s crazy delish.”

“Aha~ I like this honest side of
Senpai~”

When the old lady’s gaze was longer
directed at us, Iroha returned to her usual lax and teasing attitude.

“Your annoying attitude doesn’t
have anything to do with the tastiness of the wiener.”

I couldn’t keep up my rough attitude
while being overwhelmed by the tastiness and juiciness of the weiner.

“Still, I’m surprised that you can
go around telling people what you like about them and whatnot.”

“Ehhh, I won’t say it to just
anyone, you know? And I do like Senpai after all~”

Though I clearly dislike being teased
with fake confessions and whatnot, even more so, I hate being hated
for no reason. If only there were a girl right between Iroha and
Mashiro. That would be the best thing ever, but the world sadly
doesn’t work that way.

“That reminds me. You still haven’t
managed to convince her to come, have you?”

“……Well, yeah.”

When Iroha asked me this in the midst
of reaching for some tomato juice at the beverage section, I
responded with a sigh.

For this operation, I had Ozu and
Sumire help out quite a lot. Iroha too. I had her come with me for
the shopping, help prepare side dishes, and several other things. The
only part that wasn’t moving forward was me inviting Mashiro.

“She just keeps running away. What do
I even do about this…”

“Uuuunnnn… Come… here…”

Still trying to reach the juice, Iroha
was lost in thought.

“So close… Senpai, did you hold
back against Mashiro-senpai?”

“Eh?”

“It’s true that you tried your
hardest to annoy her into coming, but if Senpai were just honest
about it, you wouldn’t even be worrying like this… Almost got
it.”

No matter how hard Iroha tried to
surpass her limits, she couldn’t reach the juice. She glared at the
shelf with a pout.

“I know that Senpai can be even more
pushy and annoying. Like that time with me. Or when you wanted to
invite Onii-chan, Sumire-chan-sensei and I to Honey Play.”

“I couldn’t help it. Since I
thought it was the best outcome, I couldn’t stop myself.”

“And you wanted to satisfy everyone
with that, huh? You’re right about that. Really, it’s like the
eyes you use to look at other people are too good, and you only ever
see what you want.”

“It just doesn’t sit well with me
when people are forced into a place where they don’t belong. Even
though they have the skills, or though they have something that they
really want to do, either their circumstances or their surroundings
won’t allow it — that’s not right in my eyes.”

“That’s exactly it. Holding out a
helping hand to the people who are torn between dreams and reality.
That is Senpai’s strength.”

Iroha suddenly jumped up and managed to
grab the tomato juice.

“I did it! …Wah, aaaaahhh?!”

However, she lost her balance after her
landing, and was about to fall forwards against the shelf. Realizing
that, I hurriedly put my arms around her stomach and hugged her from
behind.

“Be careful, idiot.”

“Ahahaha, you saved me,” Iroha said
from between my arms, still tightly grasping the tomato juice. “And
it’s exactly because of this strength that even Onii-chan follows
you. If you don’t know whether Mashiro-senpai really wants you to
go on the aggressive, then I can guarantee that it’s okay for you
to trust your eyes.”

“Hmm, with full strength and brute
force, huh? You’re right, I might have been a bit too passive about
this.”

Though I would’ve preferred the
rational way of doing things, it seems that my self-assessment was
wrong. Apparently I was being too soft in response to Mashiro’s
decision to live independently.

That’s right. Once I’ve decided on
what I think is the right path, it’s very much like me to strive
for it with everything. It’ll surely be to Mashiro’s benefit.
This much is necessary for an ideal future.

When I started to think like that, I
didn’t care anymore if I was annoying. I remembered back to when I
had tried to convince everyone to start working under Honey Play. In
response to the three of them who were clearly confused by my sudden
idea, I convinced them that it would work out in their favour, and I
got them to accept.

The one who has immense talent, but who
is unable to hold a decent conversation with anyone below his level,
the one who is only able to talk with me and family; Ozu.

The one who had loved drawing ever
since she was a small child and had developed an immense talent with
it, but who was still forced down the road of teaching by a family of
teachers; Sumire.

In order to grant their dreams,
whatever the obstacle might be, we will use President Tsukinomori’s
Honey Play, and accept any conditions. Comparing the current
situation to back then, this is almost laughable.

After I helped Iroha get back on
balance, she handed me the tomato juice in her hand—

“—Thank you, Iroha. You’re
absolutely right.”

“Aha~ I’m looking forward to Senpai
being serious~”

Both me and the Kouhai who liked
teasing others had ominous grins on our faces.

—You’d better prepare yourself,
Mashiro.

Even if you hate it, I won’t leave
you alone.

You’ll get friends in the most
efficient way possible, and you’ll spend an enjoyable student life.

I’ll show you just how annoying I can
be.

*

「It
seems like things will be interesting from here on out. I’m looking
forward to Aki’s plan.」

「I
don’t know how far I can go, but you’d better watch me!」

Intermission: Mashiro’s feelings

Being wrapped up in a comfy blanket on
top of a bed makes you want to spend an eternity there. It’s like
being a seashell on the beach. Not opening up to the outside, just
getting swallowed up by the incoming waves.

That’s what Mashiro thought, and what
she still thinks even now.

—Of course, she knew very well that
she couldn’t keep going on like this. Precisely because she knew
this, she transferred.

Mashiro really felt happy when she was
reunited with Aki once more. Well, their first meeting after all
these years was the worst it could possibly be. Him seeing Mashiro’s
plain underwear that she had never wanted him to see was such a shock
that she wanted to die—

Even so, Mashiro was incredibly happy
to be able to see him again and to exchange words with him. She
should’ve been able to guess, but Aki hadn’t changed at all.

“This Friday, I really want Mashiro
to come to our welcoming party—”

On the way to school. At school. In
front of Mashiro’s house… Mashiro’s chest hurt from remembering
Aki’s face every time he had invited her. She knew that he didn’t
have any ill intentions with his meddling. She knew that even after
such a long time without seeing him.

After all, what he had accomplished
continued to protect Mashiro even from far away. That was why she
always wanted to take that one step forward. Mashiro believed that
when she could stand next to him, she might be able to change as
well.

—But reality is cruel.

That female Kouhai, standing next to
Aki… Who is that?

Mashiro doesn’t know her.

Mashiro knew about Kohinata Ozuma and
Kageishi Sumire beforehand. When Aki was talking with father, she had
overheard those names. But she didn’t hear anything about a cute
girl like her. It was like he was trying to show off his girlfriend.

…………

No, that’s nothing more than
groundless envy.

Mashiro’s feelings were just getting
the better of her due to the length of time she had spent apart from
him. Iroha is just his friend’s little sister, so there’s no
reason to falter.

Honestly, when Father brought up his
fake boyfriend idea, Mashiro could’ve jumped for joy. She could
have made a victory pose inside her heart. Though it was
embarrassing, her happiness was ten times stronger than that. That’s
exactly why her feeling of despair was even greater when Mashiro saw
that girl suddenly standing next to Aki.

Even Mashiro herself thought that this
was laughable.

Things weren’t going smoothly with
her classmates, and she had started to hate the walk to school—

By pure coincidence, Mashiro had found
out about the “Fifth Floor Alliance.”

“‘Are you a stalker?’… What’s
up with that? Are you an idiot, Mashiro?”

Mashiro was selfish with her Father in
order to get closer to Aki again. She managed to get into the same
school using unfair methods, and she even got the room next to him —
and she was the one calling him a stalker?

Mashiro herself is the greater stalker,
really.

Mashiro hates herself for using abusive
language towards Aki out of jealousy.

Mashiro hates herself for bluntly
refusing the chance she received to become closer to him.

Mashiro hates the fact that there’s
another girl who Aki is on close terms with.

Mashiro hates herself for going this
far to change schools, yet not changing anything about herself.

She hates so much about herself.

“Friday… Tomorrow, huh…?”

Turning over on the bed, Mashiro stared
at the wall next to her. Past that wall was room 502. Past that might
be Aki’s bed that he’d be sleeping in, but there was no way for
Mashiro to check.

Hiding her mouth with the blanket,
Mashiro muttered the following words.

“She won’t go to that drinking
party…”

If it was Mashiro and Aki, everything
would work out.

But if it’s a place filled with other
people, then Mashiro can’t. She would just get swept along in that
place. Even the right to talk to Aki would be stolen away from her.
If that happened, she would be surrounded by strangers. In an
environment where fun is forced upon you, she would feel like a loner
all over again.

…Mashiro doesn’t want that. Mashiro
definitely won’t accept the invitation. Even if she were invited
countless times by the one she loves most dearly, she definitely
won’t accept it.

Like this:

Related

Published by Batoolo

I think I’m getting gay vibes off Ozu. Am I wrong? I don’t think I am. It actually explains a lot. Why Ozu seemed upset on the phone when he heard about Iroha’s whole boob-assault, why Ozu never makes moves on any of the beautiful girls who try to hit on him, why Aki is the only person Ozu knows how to talk to other than his family. And Ozu’s blushing when Sumire pushed them together, and how Ozu didn’t complain….

I think he’s gay.

Man, I think it would be hilarious if this harem anime resolved itself by having the MC go out with his guy friend. I’m kinda rooting for this now.

Oh, that is a possibility I hadn’t considered at all. I’m going to stick to my hope that Ozu is gay, because I haven’t read that development in a harem LN yet and I hope it happens. Anyone here who’s read more light novels then me willing to tell me if this is likely to happen or not?